What in the world am I doing??????

Good question, I want to answer that, but first I’d like to share this mornings run then sort of slide slowing into answering the question:

WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING WITH THIS RUNNING THING??????

Thursday July 27th- I really enjoyed my run this morning. The first two miles were the walk/run type. Mile one, done in 20 minutes. Mile two, done in 19 minutes. I would have run the whole way on the second mile like yesterday, had I the presence of mind to do so. I accidentally shifted into auto pilot and began day dreaming about my book and forgot that I had upped my bar to running straight through on the 2nd mile. I couldn’t help it really. The locusts were buzzing energetically. Sparrows hopping about under the trees. Breezes blowing….

You might be asking by now, “Don’t you run on a track Julie? What’s with the buzzing locust and bouncing birds?”

Yea, I run on a track. An old track around a baseball diamond behind the city office. There were trees planted years ago around this track. It is completely shaded the whole way around. An ideal spot for locust, birds and beginner runner’s like myself to spread our wings and fly.

I really like the place. It’s perfect for day dreaming and running. By lap 8 I realized that I wasn’t focusing enough on my running plan. I therefore adjusted myself and ran straight through mile 3 in 15 minutes. Ran straight through mile 4 in 17 minutes. Ran straight through mile 5 in 15 minutes. The last lap, lap 21, walked it out in 6 minutes. I then drank a liter of ice tea and watched the happy sparrows bounce about for a while. I like sparrow….

I have been told that sparrows, if confined, will die. It is not possible to cage a sparrow like you do other types of birds. They have to continuously move or their little organs will quit.

My sons found a sparrow once. We wanted to keep it really badly. I told my boys that we couldn’t cage the sparrow or it would die. They decided that they would try keeping it in their bedroom without a cage. You know, just let it flutter about loose in the room. Maybe that would be enough space for the sparrow to live. We tried that but the sparrow was dead by the next morning. Sparrows are simply not meant to be confined.

People are like that too but we just don’t know it. We are meant to move around and be free. We weren’t made to be confined. Now, I’m not talking about being a quiet person or a shy person. Being quiet or shy is one thing, being confined, caged up is something entirely different.

About a year back I developed a condition called frozen shoulder. The Japanese call it 50-year-old shoulder. I could not raise my arm, brush my hair, wash my hair, I literally stopped using my arm all together because it was just too painful. I took medicine for it for a while then finally I got fed up, I looked at my shoulder and exclaimed, “My God man, I’m not even 50 yet and you already got me in the grave!”

I was told the only thing that could be done for this kind of condition was to exercise. I tried exercising but to be honest with you the only thing I could do was walk. So I started walking 2 miles, 3 times a week. The act of simple walking made me feel much better but it didn’t loosen up my shoulder any.

My sister suggested running. I tried to run but I couldn’t run 5 steps without complete exhaustion. (I’m not over weight by the way, just out of shape) I kept on walking. Then I came across a DVD by that Biggest Loser TV show, called Power Walking. I added that DVD to my little exercise program. I was feeling better but still my shoulder was nearly unusable.

My son started praying for my arm. He also mentioned it in his Sunday school class that I needed healing for my arm. His Sunday school class prayed for me as well.

I began walking around the track behind my house at the city office. I made some walking friends out there. One step at a time my strength increased. I now find myself able to run. I don’t pant like I did in the beginning. The exhaustion is gone. My shoulder is all loosened up. I can do everything with my arm that I used to. Full mobility has returned to my body. Praise God! I am so happy too.

I still have an ankle that twists out sometimes that I need to deal with. I had an idea about how to correct that this morning. I remember when I used to run in high school. I wore these sand filled weights on my ankles during practice time. Then when we went to a race, of course, I’d not wear them. I remember how light my legs felt during a race because I was used to practicing with the extra sand weights. I think I will look for some sand weights at the store and put one on just my left ankle to strengthen it. If you have a weak part, you should give it more work not less work to strengthen it. Am I right?

So, what the heck am I doing with all this running stuff? I’m throwing another log of the fire that’s what. I don’t feel like dieing just yet, if you don’t mind.